Public comment at regular or special meetings shall be governed by the following rules and regulations:
(A) A period of public comment related to agenda items shall be held at each meeting at the beginning of the meeting.
(B) The chairperson of the board shall preside over the public comment period and may within his or her discretion:
(1) Recognize individuals wishing to offer comment on agenda items;
(2) Require identification of such persons;
(3) Allocate available time among individuals wishing to comment and: (1) defer non-agenda items to the end of the meeting; (2) defer agenda items to the time in the meeting that said agenda item is discussed; and (3) require consolidation of comments if multiple individuals desire to speak on the same topic;
(4) Rule out of order, scandalous, impertinent, and redundant comments, or any comment the discernible purpose of which is to disrupt or prevent the conduct of the business of the meeting;
(5) Require the person desiring to make public comment to stand if they are physically capable of doing so; and/or
(6) Require the person desiring to make public comment to speak from a designated area if they are physically capable of doing so.
(C) The time allocated during the public comment period for each resident and/or taxpayer shall be five minutes. If a member of the public notifies the Township Secretary in advance of the meeting, they will be added to the agenda and will be given up to ten minutes to address the Board. The chairperson may, in his or her sole discretion, allow an individual more time to provide comment.
(D) If there is not enough time for public comment at a meeting, the Board of Supervisors, at its discretion, may defer the public comment period to a meeting held before the next regular or special meeting or until the next regular or special meeting.
(Res. 2020-6, passed 8-25-2020; Res. 2022-2, passed 5-24-2022)